ANADARKO — For the second time this season, Southmoore made it to the championship game of tournament. And for the second time, they found themselves unable to keep up in the fourth quarter.
No. 1 Anadarko (4A) defeated No. 3 Southmoore (6A) 62-50 in the finals of the Anadarko Warriors Classic Saturday at AHS.
“I don’t think it is a problem,” Southmoore coach Britney Kannady-Sayes said. “Our conditioning is better than what it was. We have about three or four gimpy people right now, but we are not going to use that as an excuse. Anadarko is a great team and they shot lights out.”
With 6:15 left in the game and the SaberCats trailing by only three, the Beatty sisters took over for the Warriors. Ashley Beatty, drained a 3-pointer to pushed lead to six. On their next trip down senior Lakota Beatty, who has signed to play at Oklahoma State, knocked down her own trey to give Anadarko a 47-38 advantage.
The two sisters led the Warriors on a 19-9 run to put the game away. The SaberCats were unable to keep pace and succumbed to the Warriors full court pressure. The three games in three days may have caught up to them.
“I know we were tired,” senior Kayla Tucker said. “We could have gave a lot more, honestly. We worked, but just not hard enough. Not like we have been. We just have to find it deep within in ourselves. We had a tough game yesterday going into overtime. It took a lot out of us. We just have to be able to take care of ourselves.”
Tourney MVP Lakota Beatty led all scorers with 23 points. Kelia Pahcoddy added 14.
Serithia Hawkins paced the Cats with 14 points and seven rebound. Tucker posted 12 points, four rebounds and four assists in the loss.
Early on it was Pahcoddy who had her way against the Cats defense. She was able to bully her way in the paint and helped Anadarko grab a 11-9 first quarter advantage.
The Warriors used their full-court press to get pressure on the Cats and forced Tucker into several backcourt turnovers, which led to easy transition points.
“It definitely sped us up in our offense,” Tucker said. “We really didn’t adjust to it very well. We could have adjust to it a lot better than what we did.”
The Warriors led 25-22 at halftime.
Southmoore came out strong in the third quarter and tied the game at 28-28 behind Kyeria Hannan and Tucker.
But the 3-point shooting of Kylie Parker and Lakota Beatty pushed the lead to 41-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
“We played a great game,” Hannan said. “But I thought we could have done better.”
Before losing to Anadarko, the Cats picked up wins over Lawton High Thursday an a overtime victory Saturday against the Oklahoma City Storm. Southmoore trailed 20-6 at one point and had to battle its way back into the game. That’s what Tucker wants her team to take away from the tourney.
“Just keep fighting,” Tucker said. “That game we had yesterday, we never gave up. We went though a lot of adversity. That built us up in confidence and showed how we can play. So we just have to keep that intensity and keep that fire in us for the rest of the season.”
Southmoore drops to 9-2 and will face Edmond Memorial and MIdwest City next week on the road.
Michael Kinney Follow me @eyeamtruth mkinney@mooreamerican.com
